When the plant based meat first launched… I have to admit, I was skeptical. After I tried it in a couple of restaurants, I decided it was time to try it in some recipes at home. My goal is always to see if I can “fool” people into thinking they are actually eating meat!
I have used plant-based beef as a substitute for real beef in burgers, meatballs, tacos, spaghetti sauce and chili, but you could use it for pretty much anything other recipe that calls for ground meat. Plant based meat is usually made from extracted plant protein (pea or soy), spices and binding ingredients.
While they typically are higher in sodium, plant-based meat is similar to real meat in terms of calories and has more fiber and less cholesterol. I am not a vegetarian, but I have been cutting down on my red meat consumption to improve a number of different risk factors. Although they are fortified with vitamins, meatless burgers aren’t exactly health food, though they’re not more unhealthy than the meat products they are replacing. Some people point out that meatless burgers can contain GMO’s. But genetic modification is everywhere: from farm-raised fish to chickens, cows, and hogs can being fed genetically modified corn and feed. So is meatless healthier? Is it bad for you? It depends on your particular issues. If you are sensitive to soy, it can be in a meat product or a meatless product, so check your ingredients. If you are avoiding GMO’s, it can be in a meat product or a meatless product, so check your ingredients. If you are avoiding gluten, it can be in a breaded meat product, or in a meatless product, so check your ingredients.
Pure Farmland Meatballs- Made with soy. They were really dense, and didn’t really soak up the flavor of the spaghetti sauce like beef does.
- Beyond Beef ground- I tried making tacos and spaghetti with the beef. I figured with all the seasoning and sauce, that would disguise… the chemical taste. It did not. Some people don’t notice it.
- Beyond Beef Sausage Patty- Dunkin Donuts sells a breakfast sandwich made with Beyond Beef sausage, and my sister and I tried it out. It was good.
- Emerge ground beef- This is the plant based meat I found at Krogers. I used it to make a burger. It was edible. Wouldn’t be able to “trick” anyone. I also used it in spaghetti sauce. I could have fooled someone with that… someone that is not a picky eater.
- Soyrizo- I scrambled it with some eggs and made breakfast tacos- almost tasted like the real thing
- MorningStar Sausages- I tried them at someones house (she was a vegetarian), and they were pretty realistic, but I looked at the ingredients later, and they had wheat/gluten.
If you make the burger really thin, and add lots of condiments to your burger… they will hardly know!!!
Burger King uses this in their Impossible burger, and we did a side by side taste test.
Well, side by side you can tell, but otherwise, it is pretty realistic.
If you have tried any meatless products… let me know your opinion!
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Tamyra Comeaux, MD 
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